''Tantric'' is the debut album by American rock band Tantric. It was released February 13, 2001, and debuted at No. 193 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album would eventually peak at No. 71 and was certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on November 30, 2001. The album released " Breakdown" as the lead single, and the follow-up singles " Astounded" and "

Mourning Mourning is the emotional expression in response to a major life event causing grief, especially loss. It typically occurs as a result of someone's death, especially a loved one. The word is used to describe a complex of behaviors in which t ...

Background and recording

In November 1998, after a turbulent relationship on the road, Todd Whitener, Jesse Vest, and Matt Taul were fired from the band

Days of the New Days of the New was an American rock band from Charlestown, Indiana, formed in 1995. The band later relocated to Louisville, Kentucky. They consisted of vocalist/guitarist Travis Meeks and a variety of supporting musicians. They are best know ...

. The day they were fired, the three were cutting instrumental demos for what would become songs on ''Tantric''. However, in the meantime, Whitener, Vest, and Taul would have to survive through low-wage jobs. In March 1999, singer Hugo Ferreira moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and within their first practice session together the group began developing songs. Within six months, the band had written a plethora of material and quickly gained a strong fan base in their native

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. After the band's demo caught the attention of

Maverick Records Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Warner Music Group and run by recording artist Madonna, as well as Frederick DeMann and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev. It included a record label ( Maverick Records), a film producti ...

late the following year, they were signed and began recording their self-titled album with producer Toby Wright.

Musical style

The album emphasizes

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

and harmonized vocal melodies which are reminiscent of

. This style was also heavily influenced by Wright, who is known for applying multi-track vocals to much of his work.

Touring and promotion

The band toured extensively to promote their debut album, including a headlining tour in early and fall 2001. From April to August that year, they supported

3 Doors Down 3 Doors Down is an American Rock music, rock band from Escatawpa, Mississippi that formed in 1996. The band's music is described as post-grunge, alternative rock, and hard rock. The band's 2000 debut single "Kryptonite (3 Doors Down song), Kr ...

with Lifehouse, and in May took part in the first two-day HFStival. On May 11, Tantric performed "Breakdown" on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

''. The Kentucky group joined

Oleander ''Nerium oleander'' ( ), commonly known as oleander or rosebay, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the genus ...

and Beautiful Creatures on the Rolling Rock Town Fair tour from September through November. They also appeared on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's ''

Reverb In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...

'' in late 2001. They would perform on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'' on December 28. Tantric was chosen to join

Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds ...

for the first two months of 2002. They then embarked on a headlining effort in the Rellim Tour, sponsored by Miller Beer, in spring 2002. Afterward, Tantric would reenter the studio to record their second album.For The Record: Quick News On Britney Spears, Foxy Brown, Tantric, Jay-Z, Tiffany & More

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

.com (April 1, 2002). Retrieved on December 16, 2010.

Music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

s were produced for all three singles from the album. "Breakdown" and " Astounded", which were led by director

Nigel Dick Nigel Dick (born 21 March 1953) is an English music video director and filmmaker. Originally from Catterick, North Yorkshire, he is based in Los Angeles, California. He has directed music videos for artists such as Britney Spears, Toto, Ba ...

, feature a more abrasive, confrontational rock sound while "Mourning" takes on a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...

approach. The latter was featured in the end credits of the 2002

neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...

film '' The Salton Sea'' while "Breakdown" was in advertising and the soundtrack to '' Driven''.

Critical reception

Mixed reviews were offered to Tantric's debut. Most negative feedback lay on the grounds that the album lacks a unique sound and rather mimics

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

dynamics and, more specifically,

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

. Much attention was also brought to the few musical distinctions between Tantric and Days of the New. However, the album also gained a measure of praise for its strong, commercially viable melodies and sturdy rock/pop balance.

Commercial performance

''Tantric'' is the band's only album to land on the

Billboard Heatseekers The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

, peaking at No. 4, and it reached No. 71 on the ''Billboard'' 200. In November 2001, the record had sold 500,000 copies and was certified gold, a landmark that the band has been unable to repeat. All three singles managed to chart with the lead release, "Breakdown", reaching the highest of any Tantric single: No. 1 on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

(their only number-one single on any chart to date) and at No. 4 on the

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

. " Astounded" and "Mourning" both reached the top 20 and 30 on the Mainstream and Modern Rock charts, respectively, and gained significant radio play. Few later Tantric singles would reach these heights.

Track listing

Personnel

Tantric * Hugo Ferreira – lead vocals * Todd Whitener – guitar, backing vocals * Jesse Vest – bass *Matt Taul – drums Additional personnel * Toby Wright – producer, engineer, mixing * Sander Dejong – assistant engineer * Kevin Szymanski – assistant engineer * Elliott Blakey – assistant mix engineer *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and distri ...

– mastering * Stewart Whitmore – digital editing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2001 debut albums Maverick Records albums Albums produced by Toby Wright Tantric (band) albums